Hello Halcyon Days
by wisheswerehorses
Summary: Alternate universe drabbles of Bleach&CO. Orihime is an oblivious, classified 'nerd'. Ulquiorra is a smart, superior upperclassman. Sometimes it takes an imaginative view on life to heal even the deepest of wounds.
1. Imagine

This story will be told in little one-shots and drabbles, for the sake of my tired fingers, more updates faster and the lack of fillers.

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><p>She fumbled her pen and it clacked loudly across the floor, the entire class turning their heads at the promise of some sort of distraction from exams. Nervously, she muttered an almost inaudible apology and reached for it, until a shoe kicked it to the front row.<p>

She gasped a little and glanced at the offending shoe before chastising herself for blaming the shoe. It was simply an object and it was an accident even if the shoe somehow had a mind of its own and had a secret grudge against pens. Or worse: her color-coded collection of mechanical pencils!

Within ten seconds, her attention span was lost to Planet Orihime. By the time the bell rang, her pen was forgotten and her test oddly blank.

"Say, Orihime," Tatsuki came up, her best friend who looked rather peeved, "I completely forgot about memorizing that Orpheus poem, did you?"

"Poem… hmm, maybe, I'm not sure, now that you mention it… nope! Er, why…?" Orihime twisted her neck at an odd angle, her orange braid nearly taking Tatsuki's eye out.

"It was on the test…"

"Oh no! I completely forgot about the test! It-It was the shoes, Tatsuki! They have a mind of their own! Of course, where would their brain be if you had your foot in them? Perhaps that little heel on the bottom? But wouldn't that hurt? It's so small. Or maybe their brain is so small and isn't like ours, but in the shoelaces! But wait, that wouldn't be right either, shoelaces come off sometimes, like yesterday and I fell in a sewage hole."

Tatsuki blinked a little put-off, but none-the-less shrugged and dragged her over imaginative friend to lunch.

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><p><strong>End note: <strong>Wow, it's easier to keep Orihime in character than I thought. She is a lot like me in the way our brains work, except I'm not quite _that bad_. Please review; this was sort of a prologue/beginner piece to introduce Orihime and her flaws/ability to entertain herself in the more boring situations.

**282 words, inspiration: Cliché, nerds, high school**


	2. Concoction

"Oh, I am so glad that I went to the grocery last night, even though it was raining pigs and chickens," Orihime started and drooled out the side of her mouth, but pushed up her small pink glasses as they started to slip.

"You went by yourself? I thought I told you to call me if you wanted to go out at night, Orihime. Be careful, you're only a yellow belt, I still have a lot to teach you."

Orihime nodded seriously and took out a bottle of mustard, a head of lettuce, pickles and bread.

"I was watching _Iron Chef _last night too, after I got home safely," Orihime emphasized, but Tatsuki twitched in an annoyed fashion, "And this one lady made a sandwich like, um, this," She started to make her sandwich and by the time she squirted mustard into the lettuce after placing the pickles deep in the bread, Tatsuki stopped her.

"That's nice 'Hime," She commented, a little green from her friend's probably lethal concoction. "Um right, well, I heard Ichigo say something about his cousins or something or rather coming to school soon."

"Kurosaki…?" Orihime whispered, flushed and giggled, "He's so nice. He gave me my pen back when you went to the bathroom."

"Did he now?" Tatsuki was rather annoyed with her [Orihime's] constant flares about her childhood friend who was, in her opinion, dumb as a door nail.

"Oi, who's dumb as a door nail?"

_Aaaannnnnd I said that aloud._

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><p><em><strong>End note: <strong>_I love drabbles; they make me feel accomplished, but not wiped-out. Yahoo, I'm eating M&Ms right now, so even if you have something negative to say when you review (you have no choice if you wish to live), I probably wouldn't take it as hard… but that doesn't mean don't review. I just enjoy chocolate.

And thanks so much for the reviews, favorites and subscriptions! Its means a lot! I'll probably update tonight again, I have time. Love you guys!

**247 words, inspiration: Subway, family, (and believe it or not) Grapefruit**


	3. Happiness

Ichigo sat down next to Orihime, who was beside herself with happiness. Tatsuki just glared at him until he averted his eyes to Orihime's lap.

"Er, is that lettuce and mustard… in the same sandwich?"

She gasped at his tone and instantly gave him a hurt look, "It's what the lady on TV did last night! Except, she used mayo, but I hate mayo, it sticks to the roof of my mouth and even if I use mouthwash every other hour, it doesn't come off."

"Uh huh," Ichigo was used to Orihime somewhat, still a little bewildered by some of her actions, but not as confused as last year. Now that was a confusing year. "So Tatsuki… starting on the insults a bit early, aren't we? We just started back up again."

Tatsuki ignored him, jabbed her straw in her juice and sipped it with such viciousness, he changed the subject hastily.

"Right, er, Chad and Ishida should be here tomorrow," He began, but cut off when Orihime sneezed so loudly and so atomic-bomb-like, mustard flew all over her clothes.

"Oh no, not again, this happened last night too!"

Ichigo inched away from her after producing his own handkerchief his little sister made him promise to keep on his person.

"Ever think you might be allergic to it, Inoue?"

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><p><strong>End note: <strong>OK, I know by now you're like, "WHERE THE HELL IS ULQUIORRA?", but I'm mean, so you'll have to wait. I'm still starting to raise the plot with little hints through-out these little drabbles. Please be patient, he'll be here soon enough and you'll love me for it eventually… hopefully…

**219 words, inspiration: Peanut butter, friends, personal space (haha)**


	4. Comical

Rukia weighed out her options. There were only three of them; all of them no doubt had the intelligence of a toad. It'd be an easy fight. But their muscles said otherwise.

"You gonna come quietly, eh?" said the one with a really bad accent, who was closest and was slowly stalking closer.

"You take one more step and you'll never have children," She hissed and he stopped, surprised at her tone.

Rukia smirked and resisted the urge to laugh. This was almost comical. Honestly, was Aizen this desperate, relying upon thugs to do his dirty work?

"I wouldn't put on such a brave face, if I were you bitch." The second one said, pulling out a pocket knife now.

Rukia snorted, she couldn't help herself. _A pocket knife… and here I was suspecting M-16s. _

"Seriously, how much did Aizen pay you? Ten bucks a piece? This is ridiculous."

All three men tensed and charged, disregarding orders and all pretenses to her continuing mockery.

However, within seconds, they were sprawled on the ground, clutching their stomachs, knifes knocked away from their hands.

"Huh?" Rukia turned around and saw a blur-haired man brandishing his fists.

"Fuck, what pieces of shit," He sneered and glanced at Rukia, who had turned reasonably pale at his maniacal grin, "What the hell are you looking at? I couldn't let you have all the fun."

And with that, he turned, leaving Rukia skeptical and a little breathless.

A block away, the school bell rang loud enough for her to hear and she turned away from the alley.

_Blue hair… brother what kind of people do you know?_

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><p><strong>End note: <strong>Considering the reviews I got, I guess you're an impatient bunch. No worries though, I wasn't going to hold out for long. Orihime isn't going to be a useless, nerdy, naive girl anymore considering whats in store. And to clarify: this isn't just going to be about Orihime and Ulquiorra, sure they're the main act, but in my summary I said, 'Bleach&CO', so you'll be seeing more of Rukia and the others.

Oh, and please excuse the language, it is necessary. AND THESE ARE DRABBLES, NOT LONG CHAPTERS, JUST SHORT CUTS OF THE BIG STORY. PLEASE DON'T THINK I'M LAZY WITH THE SHORTNESS, I INTENDED IT TO BE THIS WAY. Thanks, please continue to read.

**271 words, inspiration: Bad ass-ness, sarcasm, ninja (haha)**


	5. Combustion

"I-I've got to pee," She stood up, deposited her sandwich in Tatsuki's arms and left.

Ignoring all the looks she was getting because of her yellow be-speckled uniform, she raced into the washroom.

_I lied; I don't have to go, _she thought, staring in the mirror. Her glasses were spotted yellow and her clothes were no doubt stained. She was so embarrassed. _Kurosaki must think I'm so weird! _

The bathroom stall behind her was opened slowly followed by the sound of a flushing toilet. Out came Renji Abarai, a distant friend and somewhat of a nice companion when she ever made banana and ketchup pudding.

"Oh, Renji! What're you doing in the girl's bathroom?"

He froze and quickly his tattoos were toned down by the sight of his blush, "Oh shit, you serious? Er, wait a second, why are you covered in…" He took and step forward and swiped his finger across her bosom, "Mustard?"

It was her time to blush.

"Oh, uh, right, my lunch…"

"Oh, no biggie," He answered, no doubt coming up with a solution for the mustard explosion on his own, "Want some help washing it off?"

Orihime nodded slowly and pushed up her now some-what yellow glasses, "Thank you."

After a good ten minutes and some more red faces later, the two emerged, Orihime less yellow and Renji redder than his hair.

He coughed, "I probably should have left after Rukia came in…"

Orihime laughed, "She was just surprised is all, I'm sure it'll heal in a couple of days."

Renji skeptically lead her back to her lunch spot, unconsciously checking over his shoulder for his rather violent childhood friend.

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><p><strong>End note: <strong>I love Renji's and Rukia's relationship. It borders violence and embarrassment so finely, it should be illegal. Anyway, this is sort of a filler, but its funny, makes me grin and it actually is a point in the plot (believe it or not)! Please review, my loves!

**275 words, inspiration: Monkeys, spontaneous combustion, love/hate relationships  
><strong>


	6. Cats

School ended with no more explosions and flesh wounds, much to Orihime's dismay. Life was awfully boring when you lived by yourself. On her way home, however, she ran into two people and a pole.

As she walked by the park a block from her apartment, she hesitated. A man with shockingly blue hair was sitting on a bench, with the familiar tabby cat Orihime visited and presented milk to on Tuesdays. Too bad today was Monday.

Torn between getting home to get a head start on homework and her shows or meeting this man, Orihime shifted her weight on both feet. Finally, when the cat mewed, she had to do something. She walked closer to the pair.

The blue-haired man lifted his head and sneered as she walked closer.

"Who the fuck are you?"

Right, maybe she should have gone home.

"Oh, er, I'm Orihime Inoue," She realized with growing fear that his frown was deepening and her palms were starting to sweat, "I just, um, visit Muffin sometimes."

The silence was probably worse than his swearing. It rang in her ears, but Muffin thankfully broke it when he started to purr and rub against her legs, probably expecting milk.

He stood up, snorted and ran a hand through his cerulean hair, "Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez."

"Nice to meet you," She weakly replied, intimidated out the wazoo.

However, Grimmjow didn't seem to think so as he walked away in the direction of her apartment complex. Not wanting to seem like a stalker, she sat on the bench as the tabby cuddled and rubbed on her fingers.

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><p><strong>End note: <strong>Enter Grimmjow, the kitty magnet! Sorry for the language, but its reality and its Grimmjow… when does he not use those 'sentence enhancers'? Anyway, Ulquiorra will enter soon, no worries and no tomatoes my way please! I'll update quicker when I get more feedback, it's my caffeine. Muffin would thank you for reviews!

**265 words, inspiration: Bleach 279, kittens, raccoons (do not question my sanity)**


	7. Candles

She brought Muffin home with her, despite the rule of no pets allowed that her landlord was adamant upon. Though, feeling a bit reckless since meeting Grimmjow, Orihime put the cat under her shirt and walked home.

Muffin though did not appreciate the new darkness and scratched her, making Orihime run to her door, juggling the flailing cat and keys at the same time.

Finally, with an affirmed click, she threw Muffin inside, slammed her door shut and lifted her shirt, inspecting the wounds.

_Perhaps this is karma for rule breaking…_

Muffin though settled down after an hour of constant mewing and shredding her favorite sweater. Pouring the tabby some milk, Orihime sat down to work, when there was a knock at her door. Glancing at her homework, then the cat and then the door, she raced to hide Muffin in her room.

At the second knock (now a rather loud BAM) she opened the door, greeted by the shocked face of the blue-haired kitty-rescue inspire-er himself, Grimmjow.

"Ah, fuck, you again?"

"Grimmjow!"

"Yeah, hi, listen we just moved next door, got any candles we could borrow? My, er, roommate didn't pay up in time."

"Oh, sure, one second," And she raced back to her room, wondering if he'd mind using a blossom scented candle or a birthday cake one.

Shrugging, she grabbed both and an extra mint chocolate-chip one from her bathroom.

When she came back to the door, he was gone. Unsure where he was, she called out to him. But he didn't answer.

_He probably went back to his apartment… _

Slowly, she walked to his door in the hallway and adjusted the candles in her arms before knocking.

The door opened after a few seconds and she almost dropped the candles in surprise.

A black-haired, green-eyed man stood there, almost as short as she was, frowning.

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><p><strong>End note: <strong>SQUEEEE! ULQUI-CHAN ARRIVES ON THE SCENE! Hope I've entertained you enough to keep you reading until now! Enjoy the next few chapters, they shall be epic. Review, loves!

**309 words, inspiration: Karma, innocence, ULQUI-CHAN!**


	8. Ice

Rukia dipped her hand in a bowl of ice. Punching Renji in the face seemed like a good idea at the time, but her hand began to beg to differ by the end of the day. It was swollen and guilt was starting to eat at her.

She'd walked in on Orihime and Renji together in the girl's bathroom. Renji was handing her wet paper towels and Orihime was wiping her mustard-stained uniform with a shy hand.

Of course the first thing that went threw her mind was, 'Renji is in the girl's bathroom—must kick his ass.' But now, she understood the situation and was paying for it. Karma was a very finicky bitch, she learned today.

"What are you doing?"

"O-Oh, brother, um," Rukia stammered, flushing under her brother's slight look of surprise and disagreement, "Just ran into a desk at school."

"I see," He straightened out his ruffled suit and gave her a quick nod, "Stay safe, I have meetings until Friday."

"Of course," She muttered quietly, a bit disappointed and embarrassed for him looking after her. "Oh, did you happen to hire a man with blue hair, to, er, you know?"

He paused, glanced at her, appalled, "No."

"Right, sorry, must have dreamt it. Bye brother."

He left the kitchen wondering went on in his little sister's head.

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><p>Being the natural and oblivious klutz that she was Orihime promptly dropped a candle on her foot.<p>

"Ow, ow, ow!" She yelled and danced on one foot, juggling the other two candles.

The man in front of her looked un-amused.

After a minute of biting her lip and blinking back tears, Orihime snuck a glance at her foot. It was beginning to turn purple/black.

"H-Here are the candles Grimmjow asked for." She thrust them in his arms, her voice cracking.

"Thank you." He shortly quipped and left, leaving the door open.

Taking the hint, Orihime picked up the offensive birthday cake scented candle and walked inside, careful of her throbbing foot.

The man set them on a table near the entry and produced matches from his pocket. He slowly lit each.

Gaining her courage, she walked up beside him and placed the other remaining and lethal candle on the table.

"Er, I'm Orihime Inoue, I live next door." She rested her weight on one foot and waited to be brutally cussed out by him for some unknown reason (Grimmjow had that habit, she observed).

"Ulquiorra Scifer, I live here."

She tilted her head to the side, a little bewildered and confused, _obviously_, she wanted to point out, but held her tongue.

"Oi, that you woman? Thanks for the light."

Grimmjow entered the room and glanced over the candles.

"Fuck, birthday cake and mint chocolate chip? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Feeling slightly harassed, but used to his rather brazen behavior, Orihime took it in stride, "I happen to have a weakness for ice cream. Well, I should go. Bye, er, neighbors."

She hurried out, puzzled, _Are they… together? _She certainly hoped not, though she wasn't entirely sure what she meant by together.

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><p><strong>End note: <strong>We are finally picking up the plot! OMG! This has a plot? Why, yes, it does random reader! I'm glad you asked. I know I haven't given you much to review about, sorry, I've been busy and the humor of this story is sort of taking a head start on the trail of it. I've decided to make them longer, save you the trouble. Please review! I know you have something to review about, duh, Ulqui-chan is in the house.

**512 words, inspiration: ice cream, pain, the pineapple under the sea and its neighbors. **


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